Chiara Sotis (SAL.1.28A) and Dr Mohan Bijapur (SAL.1.31)

This course is available to General Course and GO LSE students only.

EC230 is mutually exclusive with EC2A5 and EC2B5.

Students normally will have completed Microeconomics I (EC1A5) and Macroeconomics I (EC1B5), or their equivalent.

This course uses economic analysis to explore important questions in contemporary public policy. The first term focuses on microeconomic policy problems while the second term focusses on macroeconomic policies. The use of mathematics is minimal (in particular with no calculus) and the emphasis of instruction is on graphical analysis and economic intuition and reasoning. Precise topics and readings will be announced each term and are selected to be of current interest.

Last academic year key questions addressed were: how can we evaluate the welfare effect of policies? How do consumers make decisions in risky situations and over time and why might these decisions be subject to biases? How can we design policies to improve consumer decision making?; What are the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic?; How can we tackle environmental concerns?; Why did the UK government grant independence to the Bank of England in 1997 and adopt an inflation target?; What caused the global financial crisis and how can policy prevent future crises?; How was global financial regulation reformed in the aftermath of the crisis?; What unconventional tools of monetary policy did central banks implement?; What causes currency crises?; Why has the US been a more successful currency union than the Eurozone, what caused the European sovereign debt crisis and how is it related to Brexit?; How should governments deal with a debt crisis?; Why do some countries stay poor and what can policy do about it?

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 50 hours across Autumn Term and Winter Term:

15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the AT. 15 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the WT. 1 hour of classes in the ST.

There will be a reading week in Week 6 of WT only (no lectures, classes or office hours that week).

Student learning will be supported through office hours and through a dedicated discussion forum.

Students will receive feedback on two pieces of formative work per term. Students are expected to make positive contributions to class discussions.

There is no set course textbook due to the topical nature of the applications chosen. A list of selected texts and readings will be provided at the start of each term.

Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the January exam period.
Exam (50%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the spring exam period.

The January examination is based on the AT syllabus, and the Spring exam on the WT syllabus.